‘The Little Mermaid’ goes fairly swimmingly at the Ordway

In 1989, “The Little Mermaid” launched “the Disney renaissance” of animated musical hits that came to include “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.” But its 2007 stage adaptation ended the winning streak the studio had on Broadway, petering out relatively quickly amidst mixed reviews and the recession of the late ’00s.

Yet it’s experienced a renaissance of its own over the past decade, thanks in large part to director Glenn Casale and his design team. Casale had worked with actor and former gymnast Cathy Rigby on her signature show, “Peter Pan,” and he suggested the technology that made that musical’s famous flying sequences so breathtaking could be used to convey the illusion that the anthropomorphized sea creatures of “The Little Mermaid” are floating and swimming above the stage.

With producer Rigby and director Casale still at the helm, that’s the version of “The Little Mermaid” that’s dropped anchor at St. Paul’s Ordway Music Theater for the month of December. While it’s tough to compete with a cartoon when it comes to suspending the rules of physics (or at least appearing to), this production boasts a delightful design and a cast that does fine things with the ear-catching music of Alan Menken, especially the big-voiced Leianna Weaver as the title character, Ariel.

But there were times at Tuesday’s opening-night performance (after a week of previews) when I wondered if safely meeting all those technical demands had distracted the performers from crafting vivid characters and sufficiently selling the comedy in Doug Wright’s script and the clever lyrics of Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater. It felt as if the low-energy first act could use a jolt from the show’s villainous electric eels, for it lacked the spark of energy required to keep this musical’s young target audience engaged.

Yet it improved in the more briskly paced second act. That’s when our heroine — a mermaid who dreams of living on land and exploring the human world — is transformed into a human and launches her quest to win the affections of a prince despite having lost her voice in the magical bargain.

Only six of the film’s songs have survived in this latest stage version, but they include the Oscar-winning calypso number, “Under the Sea,” the reggae-flavored “Kiss the Girl,” and, best of all, the Kurt Weill-esque “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” delivered here with the right touch of fourth-wall-breaking flamboyance by Liz McCartney as Ariel’s evil aunt, Ursula. While not enough actors seem committed to the comedy, McCartney is a ceaselessly enjoyable hoot.

Kudos are also due Christian Probst as a prince without a drop of royal arrogance. He brings an aw-shucks charm and a lovely singing voice to every scene and song, while Dana Orange does fine things with his turns in the spotlight as Ariel’s caretaker crab and Quintan Craig leads the show’s most memorable dance number as a tap-dancing seagull.

But there are too many lulls between these high points, the energy depleted even more by a lighting design that keeps the action too often submerged in shadow. Kenneth Foy’s set and the costumes of Amy Clark and Mark Koss deserve to be more fully illuminated. It’s another reason this fairy tale never becomes truly magical.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

‘The Little Mermaid’

When: Through Dec. 29

Where: Ordway Music Theater, 345 Washington St., St. Paul

Tickets: $161.50-$46.50, available at 651-224-4222 or ordway.org

Capsule: Technical wizardry and big-voiced leads, but a paucity of energy.